Overview
- The Railway Board has directed all zonal railways to cut power to mobile and laptop charging sockets in coaches between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. with no exceptions.
- The instruction was issued in a letter dated October 26 after a passenger’s power bank reportedly exploded while charging on a South Eastern Railway train and produced smoke inside a coach.
- Zones must counsel and train onboard staff to enforce the shutoff and carry out surprise inspections by officers and supervisors to check compliance.
- The restriction traces to a 2014 Railway Board order based on a Commissioner of Railway Safety recommendation after a 2013 coach fire, and zones have reported recurring violations, especially in some AC coaches.
- Railway officials say enforcing the rule in non‑AC sleeper coaches is costly and operationally hard, so authorities will monitor inspections and discipline records to see if enforcement improves and whether further measures are needed.